New Rega Planer 8 (P8) Turntable - Apheta 2 Cartridge Combo - Thoughts

@fsmithjack 
Well your situation certainly is interesting. I'm surprised the Rega didn't do better; you must (as you say) have one hell of a digital rig! I'm on the very opposite side of the spectrum - HUGE investment in 2 turntable rig(s), with almost nothing by comparison into digital. The most I stretched there was a Schiit Yggdrasil DAC (2.3K), Audiophilleo 2 w/ PP USB converter ($1K), and decent Audioquest USB cable ($500), driven from various audiophile players (Amarra, Audirvana) on my iMac. Good quality FLAC files, some high-res. And I had a similar end result here, but flipped: vinyl sounds as if it's from another world than digital.

As for your new proposal, I think the move to a tube phono stage is a great idea. Note the Chinook is technically a hybrid (FET stage for MC), and may or may not be enough performance to satisfy your very, very high requirements. Also my experience with hybrid stages like that (gain around say 64dB) is that they do best with cartridges around 0.5mV or higher output, and not so much the super low output MCs less than 0.3mV. I have a Herron VTPH-2A (hybrid) and it is absolutely fantastic with both Ortofon Cadenza Bronze (0.45mV) and Shelter Accord (0.5mV). I'd recommend a look at that stage too; it's wonderful and might just make your cut.

I'm much more skeptical that the Hana, while well reviewed, would meet your high standards. The carts I've heard or owned between 1K and low-2Ks can be extremely nice listens, but all were quite notably flawed compared to the higher tier of carts. At your level, this will matter.

No ideas on the table, but that one looks nice!

@fsmithjack 
Frank, @mulveling makes many good points. I would agree that the Verdier is a solid table, the Herron would beat the Chinook and that the Hana might not be all that.
Somebody just listed a Sota Cosmos IV for $4k, that is a fine option. I would have it shipped straight to Sota for repair/upgrade eval for $100 and go from there. Plenty of tonearm options based on your preferences and budget. 
Cartridge / tonearm matching will be important to get correct resonance freq. I would rather see you get a Dynavector, Ortofon or Lyra to go with a table of the quality discussed. Cheers,
Spencer 

@fsmithjack 

I'd like to try to help, especially since you have named a turntable that I use as a nominee. One I consider an end of the road turntable.

Couple questions

Does your music room sit on suspended wood beams?

Who was responsible for your turntable setup from where - the stand points touch the floor, through to setting up the turntable, toonearm, cartridge, wiring and loading into the phonostage ?

How many hands in the pot ?

I don’t own a P8 but have listened to it with Apheta 2 at a friends house , both of us are HEAVY patrons of some the best classical bands in the world and are very aware what real music sounds like .
His Rega is very close to the sound we hear in fine halls . I think it would
be as much as any sane person would ever need at least on acoustic music.
And I never liked Rega’s !!